the Extractor & the Architect
by BundyShoes
Summary: First installment in the Fate, Choice, Control series. Meeting you was fate, becoming your friend was a choice, falling in love with you was out of my control. Part one: Dom/Ariadne


**I will be having a series of oneshots with different fandoms based on this sentence:**

'_Meeting you was fate, becoming your friend was a choice, falling in love with you was beyond my control.'_

**It just popped out to me and I can associate so many couples with it, and since I can't have just one story, im going to have many different oneshots, so hopefully people will like some of them. This will also be an excuse to write for fandoms I haven't written yet. And I get to fangirl over my fav couples xD**

**Starting with this one:**

* * *

_**Fandom**__: Inception_

_**Pairing**__: Dom/Ariadne_

* * *

He didn't know what to think when he first met this girl; this slip of a girl who was supposed to be his equal. When Miles called her over and he got his first glimpse of her, he had to admit, he was very doubtful, and the word 'no' was at the very tip of his tongue.

But then she turned her gaze onto him, and he froze.

He vaguely heard Miles introduce him to her, and say something about a job proposition, but he's still staring at her. She looks curiously back.

_(she would look at him like that many more times in the future)_

She asks him a question, "You mean like a work placement?"

He thinks of all the things that this job is and isn't and he can't help it if a tiny bit of bitter humor slips into his voice.

"Not exactly."

She still looks interested though, and she agrees to talk with him (after he finally agrees himself) and they go for a walk. They go up on the roof, and he wants to get this over with, because he needs an architect _now_, and he needs to make sure that she's the real deal and that his father-in-law hasn't lost his touch, so he pushes a notepad in her hands and tells her to draw an unbeatable maze in less than a minute.

She doesn't finish but he takes it from her, regardless. He can immediately see that it's child's play and rejects it, pushing it back towards her to do it again.

Another fail. It's almost the exact same maze as before, a box with a few lines in it and he doesn't even bother to try to do it. He starts to reprimand her, because he seriously has no time for amateurs right now, and she's starting to try his patience. He thought that she was supposed to be better than him.

In the middle of his lecture, though, she finally snaps and grabs the pad from him, a determined look on her face. She doesn't use the actual paper, but turns it over to the cardboard.

When she hands it back to him he fights the urge to smile. Instead of the square she's switched to a circle. It's unbeatable and he feels unexpected pride rise up in him.

_(this will happen many more times in the future.)_

"That's more like it."

He doesn't realize he is smiling; it just slips onto his face without him noticing.

_(this will happen around her many more times in the future, he just doesn't know it yet.)_

* * *

He never wanted her to get into this. The minute he sees her in the elevator he thinks he should've never hired her; he should have just left her at the college.

Not only for her sake, but his.

When he had first met her, he didn't even _think_ that she'd have the courage to steal into his dreams, didn't think that she'd find out about Mal, didn't think _any_ of this would happen. Her appearance was so unsuspecting at first glance.

He told her what had happened though. He didn't know why, just thought that since she'd come all this way, gone through all this trouble, he might as well tell her.

She believes him. He's grateful.

But when he turns around after showing her his kids, she isn't there, and he feels panic for a moment, and then he hears the elevator creak and a million things run through him.

Outrage, fear, sadness, nervousness, and…_relief_.

He doesn't dwell on any of these things, because again, this is a dream, and he runs over to the elevator, pushing the button rapidly.

When he finally makes it down there, he sees Mal circling her, and her small figure is trembling, and he just doesn't move.

Mal looks over at him, and he sees her follow the Shade's gaze. Fear and concern are in her eyes, and he wonders for a moment who it's for.

_(he later figures out it's for him. he knows because she spends most of her time proving it over and over)_

He can't remember how it happens, but all of a sudden he's grabbing her by the hand and pulling her protectively behind him into the lift, with Mal running at them with a sharp piece of glass and a murderous expression.

Mal starts yelling at him, blaming him, (and when he looks back later he'll find this next part normal,) but at the moment he finds he can only find solace in the feel of her small body pressed against his.

It calms him and gives him reassurance. And it scares the hell out of him.

Later, when they're in reality, he blames himself for putting her through all of this. She doesn't deserve this, these are his demons, and he needs to face them on his own, not force them on someone else.

_(she tells him many times in the future that this was her choice.)_

_(she tells him she's never regretted it. and he believes her, because she's become his best friend, and she's never lied to him before, why should she start now?)_

* * *

It is her voice that brings him back to reality. (Mal's presence pushed him into dreams, but she pulled him out.)

It's when he wakes up and sees her face that he realizes that he loves her.

He doesn't know when, but he knows why and that's all that matters.

_(And when he goes home and sees his kids and is overflowed with joy and happiness she is the only person who he wants to share this with.)_

* * *

Dom never stood a chance. The moment that they locked eyes the first time _(and every time after that)_ to the time they shared dreams _(each and every one of them)_ to Limbo _(where she called him back to reality)_ he had been slowly falling.

* * *

Ariadne never stood a chance. From the moment Miles called her over and she saw the handsome stranger next to him with the blue eyes _(she could see the sadness in him even from a distance)_ to the time he reached for her in the crowd of projections _(his voice still echoed in her mind, calling her name)_ to when she forced herself into his subconscious _(later he would say he didn't mind at all)_ to the Inception and Limbo _(where she called him back to reality)_ she had fallen.

* * *

Their meeting was fate, their friendship was a choice, and their love was out of their control.

the Extractor & the Architect

* * *

_**There is the first installment of the series, I'm thinking of calling it the Fate, choice, and control series, but I don't know, I've never exactly done this before, so, any suggestions are welcome.**_

_**Next I'm planning on either Harry/Hermione or Wolverine/Rogue (movie, cartoon, comic, or Wolverine&theX-Men version), so if ya want, u can put which on in your review.**_

_**The couples I have in my mind right now for this series are:**_

_**-**__Jack/Elizabeth__** (PotC)**_

_**-**__Chandler/Rachel__** (Friends)**_

_**-**__Dustfinger/Meggie__** (Inkheart)**_

_**-**__Aragorn/Eowyn__** (LotR)**_

_**-**__John/Allison__** (TBC)**_

_**-**__Beetlejuice/Lydia__** (Beetlejuice)**_

_**-**__Joker/Rachel__** (TDK)**_

_**-**__Derek/Casey__** (LwD)**_

_**-**__Michael/Audrey__** (Legion)**_

_**-**__Sweeney/Nellie__** (ST)**_

_**-**__Jackson/Lisa__** (Red Eye)**_

_**MAYBE'S:**_

_**-**__Will/Kate__** (A Knight's Tale)**_

_**-**__Silas/Sophie__** (TDC)**_

_**-**__Ron/Luna__** (HP)**_

_**-**__Draco/Ginny__** (HP)**_

_**-**__Sasuke/Sakura__** (Naruto)**_

_**-**__Nick/Cassie__** (Push)**_

_**-**__Alice/Carlos__** (Resident Evil)**_

_**Any of these, tell me if ya wanna see em! :) thanks for reading!**_


End file.
